Vehicles Congestion in Chennai

Publication: The Times Of India-Chennai;Date: Nov 11, 2008; Section: Times City; Page: 3

1.24 lakh new vehicles in six months add to road congestion

Jeeva | TNN

Chennai: If you thought Chennai’s roads are becoming more congested, here are the figures to prove it: In just six months — from April to September this year — 1.24 lakh new vehicles were registered in RTOs across the city, taking the total vehicle population in the city to 27.72 lakh.

A total of 1.13 lakh new non-transport vehicles and 11,000 transport vehicles were registered in the regional transport offices (RTOs) at Ayanavaram, Vyasarpadi, Puliyanthope, Tondiarpet, K K Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur, Valasaravakkam, Anna Nagar and Alandur in the city during the first half of this financial year.

Two-wheelers top the list in the number of new vehicle registrations. According to official records, 90,000 of the new vehicles registered between April and September this year are twowheelers, while 23,000 are cars.

The records reveal that an average of 15,000 new two-wheelers and 4,000 cars drive onto the city’s roads every month — which works out to an average of 700 new vehicles (500 two-wheelers and 130 cars) every day.

While July 2008 saw the registration of 23,000 new vehicles, the highest during the six-month period, August had the lowest registration of 17,000 new vehicles.

As of October 1 this year, the city has 26.13 lakh non-transport vehicles, of which two-wheelers account for 21.2 lakh and cars 4.5 lakh. There are 1.60 lakh transport vehicles in the city, including 52,000 autorickshaws, 30,000 lorries, 3,300 MTC buses, 2,000 school buses and 1,150 ambulances.

“The numbers show that we will see more new vehicles on the roads this year as compared to 2007-08. Last year, there were 1.87 lakh non-transport vehicles and 22,000 transport vehicles registered in the city, excluding the Alandur RTO office,” said a regional transport officer. “Usually, vehicle registration is lower during the Tamil months of Margazhi and Aadi, as most people believe it is inauspicious to buy new things during these months,” he said.

At present, the total vehicle population of Tamil Nadu is 1.06 crore, including 87 lakh two-wheelers and nine lakh cars. The state saw 5.25 lakh new vehicles added to its roads from April to September 2008, including 51,000 transport vehicles, 4.1 lakh two-wheelers and 52,000 cars.

While TN ranks second for overall vehicle population in the country, it has the highest number of two-wheelers among all states. Chennai city alone accounts for one-fourth of the total number of vehicles in the state.